Day 21 ~ Monday 7th June 2004 ~ Buxton to Ashbourne along
the High Peak and Tissington Trails
I ate fantastically last night. No pasta but Wetherspoons
kindly fed me two meals for six pounds. The mileage I
accumulated yesterday took its toll and I didn't get up
until about ten. By the time I had had breakfast (also at
Wetherspoons) it was getting later.
I popped into the bike shop to get the Mysterious Clicking
Noise sorted. It was narrowed down to my granny ring having
lost one of its "rivets". I put the word "rivets" in
inverted commas because the middle and larger rings are
rivetted and the LBS chap assumed that all of the rings were
riveted. I bought a new triple chainset for £45 and fitted
it myself due to the fact that the shop had a full schedule
of repairs until tomorrow (they *always* say that).
As I removed the drive-side set it became obvious that the
granny ring was bolted to the set, so I have kept the old
set since it is repairable.
By the time I had struggled along with road-side tools it
was midday before I started cycling. And it therefore made
sense to have food first!
I pushed out of Buxton along the A515 ad picked up the
High Peak Trail. It looked like a nasty loose surface and
I prepared myself for several miles of random steering.
However, the loose surface was only an access to the trail
and I was greeted with an adequate surface to reach
Parsley Hay.
Here I switched to the Tissington Trail (NCN68) and
trundled effortlessly to Ashbourne. For anybody who used
this route more than a few years ago, the route now extends
through a tunnel into Ashbourne Town centre. Along its
length, an arts project has installed speakers emitting
train sound. The echo was amazing and I managed to whistle
and harmonise with myself.
I fancied stopping at Ilam Hall hostel but was informed that
it was only open to group bookings (what did I pay life
membership for?)
I don't think I will make it to Birmingham tomorrow but
Wednesday is quite realistic. Lichfield or somewhere in the
region of Cannock Chase might be acheiveable.
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